HEAVEN
by Abby-0-Abby
Summary: Haruhi, with her father just passed away, must cope with life, alone. The Host Club, however, has no idea of the trauma their fellow host is living with. How long can she keep a secret? "Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive."
1. Certain Circumstances

A/N: New story!

However, instead of an Akatsuki story, I recently got re-hooked onto Ouran High School Host Club, so guess what story it is? :P

I know, I know, I'm sorry about 'The Cell Phones'. Really, I am :/ But, isn't it amazing? I think I started that story last year. Ooold.

But, with that aside, enjoy this new story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own OHSHC. Bisco Hatori does.

NOTE: Even though in the summary it says that Haruhi keeps it from the whole Host Club, Kyouya does know. Because, hello, he knows everything. Haha :P

**EDIT NOTE: This has been re-written! If you read this before 9:00PM on Thursday, June 18th, re-read it! **

* * *

**_..:_1_:.._**

**_Certain Circumstances_**

"_Haruhi, do you remember…"_

She sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the purple-pale hand while looking down at the man's pale, dimmed face. The grip stayed tight, as if it loosened any the man would fall away into the earth, eaten alive by the core.

"…_The story Cinderella?..."_

Her brown eyes squinted at the face, the once smooth and happy textures now faded and emotionless. She waited impatiently, wanting the closed lids to spring open and surprise her with a stupid expression, just like he would to try to scare her.

"…_You talk now as if you hated it…"_

How could she be so damned_ foolish._

"…_But whenever your mother told it to you…"_

Her knuckles turned white, her features becoming strikingly harder as she continued to examine the face, still waiting, foolishly, for those eyes to open.

"…_Your eyes would shine so bright and mesmerized…"_

She blinked slowly. Why,_ why_ did she think in such ways. She closed her eyes again quickly and turned away from the unmoved figure. No more.

"…_So, I was wondering…"_

The tips of her fingers hesitantly separated from the still hand, until eventually, suddenly, she couldn't feel him anymore.

"…_If you would like to hear that story again…"_

She wanted to reach back. Just wanted, one last time, to make sure this wasn't a sickening, horrid joke. But, she couldn't. The hand -- the one that held her own hand tight when she was afraid, the hand ruffled her hair when she did something well, that touched her cheek when she wasn't feeling right --_ that_ hand, was too cold to remember. Too rubbery to hold right. Too _lifeless._

"…_Once upon a time…"_

She took a deep breath and stood up. Her eyes opened up to the bleak, dim world around her.

"…_There was a young girl named Cinderella…"_

She took a step foward, her shoe tapping the filthy floor beneath her.

"…_And Cinderella lived with two mean stepsisters and her evil stepmother…"_

She took five slow steps to the door, hanging her head, watching the floor tiles pass as they changed in pattern. Every now and then, there would be a dirt footprint on the tile. A size 12, it looked like. Same size as the lifeless ones that could no longer walk behind her.

"…_Dad, what happened to Cinderella's mother and father?..."_

She took a large breath of the stuffy air and reached her hand foward to reach the doorknob. It was cool and sleek, contrasting against her sweating, clammy hands.

"…_Well sweetheart, I'll tell you this…"_

She turned the knob down and pulled it toward her, just enough to let a sliver of light shine into the darkened room. It reached over her shoes and as far as to the bed behind her. It touched the once alive face, as if it, too, was trying to revive its lively emotions. Alas, not even the light could bring him back.

"…_Her mother and father went to a wonderful place…"_

This was it. This would be the last time. Last time _to say_ anything she could. Last time _to do_ whatever she could. Last time _to see _what she couldn't see before.

She looked back.

"…_Called _HEAVEN_…"_

And she started to cry.

...

...

...

_"Haruhi...Haruhi, it's time to wake up..."_

"Haruhi? Oiy, Haruhi...HEY!"

The girl's head snapped up from the table it was resting on and came almost face-to-face with one of the Host Club's twins. His orange hair was parted to the right, slightly covering his right eye. He was peering at her with golden eyes, matched with an annoyed expression, as if he was trying to wake her up for the past few hours.

Was he?

He scoffed lightly. "Haruhi, milord's waiting for you. You shouldn't fall alseep like that."

She sat up straight in the chair and stretched, her back popping. "Hikaru, I doubt that he will throw a fit. It's not like I'm _that_ late. I only dozed off for a few minutes."

The two stared at each other for a few moments. Then, the boy smirked, and he nodded to the wallclock behind her. She raised an eyebrow and turned to face it.

Panic-mode.

"HIKARU, WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WAKE ME UP EARLIER?!" She jumped out of the chair, making it topple over, and she ran towards the door before she could let him answer. As she ran, she didn't notice that he wasn't following. In fact, she didn't seem to notice _anything_ except for the path in front of her.

Up the stairwell, to the left, down the hallways. As she passed the large window, in her rush to reach the Club Room on time, the tall pink clocktower caught her eye. She stared at it, long enough to let the few white doves mechanically pass it, just like they did practically every five minutes.

She growled in her throat.

"Hikaru..."

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan!" the bunny-loving Host Club member called to her, jumping on her from behind and latching himself onto her neck. She jumped in surprise and almost fell backwards.

"Hunny-senpai?" she questioned as she caught her breath again. She felt the boy nod agaist the back of her neck.

"Haru-chan, why are you here early? You're usually so late!" The boy let go of her neck and bounced in front of her. His blonde hair, she noticed as she looked down at him, had something sparkling, which also kept his bangs from going in his face.

"Hikaru woke me up..." she muttered tiredly, still unhappy that she was awoken. Even more so, she was unhappy that she was fooled by the clock that was pushed foward a good half hour. Those stupid, ignorant twins...

She pointed at the sparkle that sat atop the boy's head. "Um, what's that in your hair?"

He giggled and spun around on his left foot, right leg bent in the air. "It's a clip!"

"A clip."

"Yeah! Isn't it cute?" He giggled again, holding his Usa-chan, the pink stuffed bunny his grandmother gave him, close to his chest while spinning.

Her eyebrow twitched a little as she watched him, wondering how he could even be a boy, much less a_ lifeform_ of this earth. As the tallest boy of the Host Club, Mori, caught Hunny before he could get sick (or get Haruhi sick from watching him), the blood type AB, evil-dark-overlord vice president came into the scene.

"Ah, Haruhi," he interrupted, making all eyes go to him. There was a glint in his glasses from the sun coming through the window. "I'm surprised to see you here, considering the circumstances."

Haruhi froze.

"You could have very well stayed home if you wanted to. The school nor the Host Club would have held it against you," he told her.

Haruhi stayed silent. Hunny stood in front of Kyouya, a.k.a 'evil-dark-overlord', looking up at him.

"Kyou-kun, why would Haru-chan want to stay home?" the small boy asked, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

Even though Kyouya looked over at Haruhi for confirmation, she couldn't see him. She was looking down at her shoes uncomfortably. He looked back at Hunny.

"Certain curcumstances," he answered instead.

"What 'certain circumstances'?" two voices in unison asked. Hunny and Mori turned their heads just as the twins, Kaoru and Hikaru, joined the group.

Haruhi tensed up a little more.

"I'm afraid it's not my place to say. However, I'm sure you will all find out in due time," Kyouya answered. Though he wasn't directly looking at her, he noticed Haruhi had tensed more. She must not have wanted them to figure out whatsoever, period.

Mori, too, had noticed this. Though he hadn't any clue as to what was going on, he grabbed Hunny before he could ask Haruhi. Hunny looked at Mori, blinking.

"Don't ask," Mori told him plainly. Before Hunny could protest, the twins spoke up for him.

"But we all want to know." The two slid closer to Haruhi and peered their faces close to hers. This made her back up to the window and press her back uncomfortably against the panes. "What are the 'certain circumstances', Haruhi?"

She still didn't answer them. Rather, she panicked in her head. _Kyouya, Mori...save me!!_

"Kaoru, Hikaru, don't pester Haruhi," Kyouya stepped in. When the two stood away from Haruhi to question him, she let out a tiny breath of relief.

"But, we just want to know--" Mori pulled the two gently away from Haruhi.

Haruhi sighed quietly in relief. _Thank you..._

"Haruhi." She looked up at Kyouya's call. They looked at each other for a brief moment before he said, "You may go home if you want. However, if you need someone home with you--"

"I'll be okay Kyouya-senpai," she interrupted him quickly. "Erm, my dad is usually out at this time anyway, so I don't need--"

"Haruhi, my daughter!!" Haruhi tensed up and turned away quickly from the oncoming blonde idiot.

_"Haruhi, my daughter..."_

She started to walk away quickly. "I...I'm going home!!" she stuttered loudly, making sure Tamaki heard.

Yes, he heard. Did he care? No.

"But, Haruhi!" Tamaki grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "You always go home alone, with no one there with you! I say, I should go home with you!"

She began to struggle under his grip. "No, Tamaki, I don't--"

"Hey, if he gets to go, then we have to come, too!" the twins added.

"Guys, really, don't follow me--"

"I want to go with Haru-chan!" Hunny interrupted, jumping next to her with Usa-chan.

_"STOP IT."_

They four boys stopped to stare at Haruhi.

"I'm going home _alone_. _None of you_ are going to come with me. I want to be _alone_."

Tamaki let go of his daughter's shoulder, nothing holding her back now. "But, Haruhi..."

This was her chance. She ran.

"Ah, Haruhi!!" Tamaki called again. He set his foot foward, about to follow her, until Kyouya stopped him.

"Tamaki, we have to get ready for our customers soon."

Tamaki stopped at looked back at the vice presisident of the Club. "But, Haruhi...!"

"Haruhi is allowed to leave today, and will return when she's ready to," Kyouya answered easily, writing things down in his black book.

"But why does she get to leave?" the twins asked in unison.

Kyouya couldn't help but solemnly smile.

"Certain circumstances."

/\.1./\

The phone rang again.

_"Oh, Haruhi I'm so sorry to hear about your father..."_

And again.

_"I'm sorry..."_

And again.

_"Haruhi, are you okay? I'm so sorry about the news..."_

And, one more time.

_"Haruhi--"_

She snapped, tired of another 'I'm so sorry' phone call.

"I know, I know. You're _sorry._"

_"Actually, this is Kyouya."_

Haruhi jumped. "Oh, Kyouya-senpai! I'm sorry!" Great, now everyone's got _her_ saying it.

_"Haruhi, would you still like for me to keep quiet about your father?"_

She almost responded right away, but decided to question first. "Why, is everyone getting worried?"

_"Naturally, yes."_

"Oh."

_"I need your answer now. I do have customers waiting."_

"...Don't tell anyone yet."

There was a pause in the line.

_"Very well then. We hope to see your return soon."_

The line clicked. Kyouya was gone. Although she was slightly afriad of him...

...She sort of wished he didn't have to go. At least she wouldn't be completely alone.

However, as she began to visualize a longer phone conversation with him, she instantly thought that being alone would be for the better. ("So Kyouya-senpai, how was school?" _"You still owe some debt from the vase you broke earlier."_ "Er, yes, I know." _"Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else from a commoner. Just, keep up the good work, as they say in your world? *insert evil-winning-"I Own Your Life" smile here*" _"...Goodbye, Kyouya-senpai.")

As she sat on the kitchen counter for a few moments next to the phone, she was relieved to hear silence for at leat just a little bit. Just the breeze blowing outside the window, a couple of birds flying by, the phone not ringing--

_Rrring! Rrring!_

Oh, _damn_ it.

Haruhi jumped off of the counter and went to her room. After quickly getting undressed from her school uniform (she felt too lazy to change before, go figure) and changing into a pair of baggy jeans and a red T-shirt, she took an old, worn out baseball cap of her father's and slid a pair of sneakers on. She had to get out of the house.

As she locked the door behind her, she pulled the cap over her eyes a little lower, hoping not to be recognized by wandering townspeople. She slowly walked down the metal stairway, her sneakers making clanking sounds as they hit them.

When she hit the bottom, she was relieved. No one was really outside right now.

She pulled her cap up a little bit, unable to see very clearly with it down so low. The sun was still high, and it was warm out...

Wait...So why wasn't _anyone_ there?

She walked down the street, suddenly looking for everyone. Besides the few out-of-town people walking around, no one she knew was there.

_Why?_

She hesitantly took a few more quiet steps, waiting for people to attack from the bushes to scare her.

"Haruhi-chan?"

"EEEE!" Haruhi jumped and staggered backwards. The atmosphere was so quiet and still, she hadn't exactly expected someone to actually call her name.

A little girl in long black curled pigtails timidly walked up to her. She wore a black blazer with a white shirt underneath and a plaid skirt dress with black shoes . She held her hand out and grabbed onto Haruhi's shirt gently.

Haruhi blinked and brought herself up from the ground to sit on her knees, calming her pacing heartbeat down a notch. She came eye-to-eye with the girl, recognizing her as her downstairs neighbor. She sighed. "Hi, Rina-chan. What are you doing out here?"

Rina looked at Haruhi with her dark brown eyes. "Um, I got lost..."

A small sound of confusion escaped Haruhi's throat. "Lost? But, shouldn't you be at school?"

Rina sniffled quietly. "I was, but...These mean boys put something over my eyes and made me walk to the woods next to the school...And then they left me there..."

Haruhi blinked. "Rina-chan, did you get lost in the woods and come here?"

Rina nodded. Haruhi sighed and stood up, taking Rina's tiny hand in hers.

"Well, I'll walk you back to school, okay?" she asked. Rina nodded again. "I'll talk to your teacher and the principal about the boys."

"Will...Will they get in trouble?" Rina was looking up at Haruhi with pleading eyes.

Haruhi scratched the back of her head. "Well, they should..." Rina whimpered.

"I don't want anyone to get in trouble because of me..."

Haruhi frowned a little. "Rina, it's not your fault. They should be in trouble. What they did to you wasn't right."

"But..."

Haruhi tugged on Rina's hand lightly. "Come on, Rina. Let's go."

After a little cajoling by Haruhi, the two walked together to the elementary school, Rina still not comfortable with having the boys getting in trouble. However, Haruhi knew it was right for them to, even if Rina disagreed.

Upon entering the school doors, Haruhi asked Rina, "Do you know where your classroom is?"

Rina nodded. "Yeah, but...can you come with me?"

Haruhi sighed, but nodded. "Sure."

After following the little girl down a few hallways, they came upon what was apparently Rina's classroom. She knocked on the door, and the teacher opened the door.

She had glasses similar to Kyouya's, with fading brown hair pulled up into a neat bun. Her expression was very strict. But, that might just have been because it was aging and the wrinkles made it look sort of...distorted.

"Koizumi-san!" she excalimed. She grabbed the girl's hand harshly. "How _dare you_ run away from school!" Haruhi flinched at the teacher's strictness. Okay, maybe it _wasn't_ just the wrinkles.

Rina stood in front of her with a trembling expression.

"Excuse me, teacher-sama--"

The teacher glared harshly at Haruhi. "Excuse you _indeed_. What a rude child! What gives you any right to talk to me in such a manner--"

"I'm sorry, but Koizumi-san did not run away."

The teacher blinked, ridding of her harsh glare for just a moment. However, she glared again, her green eyes piercing into Haruhi's. "And how do you know this?"

"She's my neighbor. I've known her ever since she was born. I'm sorry, but she would never run away from here. This is her favorite place. Even more than home."

The teacher glanced at Rina before looking back at Haruhi, the same glare set in place. "And who are you, exactly?"

"My name is Haruhi Fujioka."

Almost immediately, the teacher's face suddenly turned solemn. "Oh, I see. I heard about your father."

Haruhi gave her a confused - and even a bit annoyed - expression. How many people did her father know?

"But, still, how did Koizumi-san end up out of school grounds?"

Haruhi looked down at Rina, and said, "Rina-chan, would you like for me to tell her?"

Rina paused. "No...I'll tell her, Haruhi-chan.."

Haruhi blinked, but she smiled. "Alright."

The teacher looked at Haruhi. "Well, can you explain to me briefly what happened?"

Haruhi looked At Rina again. She had no idea if she was going to tell the truth, or something to keep the boys out of trouble. She knew Rina should tell the truth, but maybe...

_Maybe Rina should just do what makes her happy._

She pondered this for a few seconds, before looking up at the teacher with a small smile.

"Let's just say, certain circumstances."

...

...

...

_What's going to happen?_

_What does the _future_ hold?_

_So many things that I put off,_

_Assuming I'd have_ time_, assuming I grow_ old.

_What's going to happen?_

_And will I be_ alive_, tomorrow?_

_What's going to happen to _me_?_

* * *

A/N: Chapter 1, finished!

So, tell me what you think through your reviews. Even if you think it sucked, just tell me! I want to hear what you guys think ^_^

Thanks for reading! Review!

-Abby

**Edit 6/18/09:** And I'm serious about the reviews. Yes, I do check my email everyday, and even though Story Alerts and Favorite Story emails make me happy, reviews really do just make my day ^_^ So please, if you want another chapter out, take a little itty bit of space out of your time and review! :P

**Finale: What's Going to Happen? (c) Scrubs, _My Musical_**


	2. What If?

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!

I had a hard time trying to pick what I wanted to start this chapter out with. But, I finally decided what I would do, so, here it is.

**By the way, if you haven't already, go back to chapter one and re-read it, since I edited it a lot. If it's the same as what you read before, read this one.**

Enjoy chapter two!

**Disclaimer:** Ouran (c) Bisco Hatori

* * *

**_..:_2_:.._**

**_What If?_**

_"Tamaki, what are you staring at?..."_

He paced, worried hands behind his stiff back.

_"...Oh, sweetie, look. Grandmother's coming..."_

Why did she just run off like that? Was she really feeling ill?

_"...Do you see?..."_

Was something wrong at home? Maybe her father wasn't doing well?

_"...Don't be afraid, Tamaki..."_

But, surely she would have told them, right?

_"...Everything will be okay..."_

_Right?_

...

...

...

Pace. Pace. Pace. Mumble. Pace.

Kyouya sighed, becoming slightly aggravated at the annoying sounds, tapping and mumbling. "Nothing will happen if you just pace all day, Tamaki."

Tamaki didn't seem to hear. He mumbled again under his breath. "What if she's really sick? What if she doesn't get home because she collapses? What if just because of my ignorance she's dying right at this moment without anyone to help her? What if she's already dead? No, no Tamaki, she's not dead, don't think that way. She's probably okay! Yeah, she's okay. But, why did she go home early? Maybe she's sick! What if she's really sick? What if--"

The twins looked at each other, then stood. The both reached a hand out and caught Tamaki by his shoulders, stopping the pacing and depressing mumbles.

"Milord, please calm down," Kaoru pleaded.

"Yeah, you're scaring us," Hikaru added.

Tamaki groaned, his head limply hanging downward. He put a hand to his forehead and pushed his hair back.

Hunny bounced forward, standing in front of the distressed king. "Yeah, Tama-chan, relax! You know what always calms me down when I'm worried? CAKE!"

They all seemed to sweatdrop. _He eats cake all the time anyway..._

Mori also stood in front of Tamaki and lifted Hunny onto his shoulders, which made the boy giggle. He didn't say a word, which, of course, wasn't unusual.

Kyouya, however, stayed in his place next to the window. His arms were crossed across his chest, his black eyes looking impassively at the usual idiot group in front of him. While they were all consoling the king of said idiots, his cellphone began to vibrate in his pocket. He reached his hand in and flipped the device open. He turned away from the group, facing the window. As he answered, he noticed a few grey storm clouds hoving over the clocktower.

"Yes?" he asked, faking a business-like mood just in case it was someone from the family.

However, it wasn't at all.

_"Kyouya? Um, it's Haruhi..."_

"What is it Haruhi?" At the sound of her name, the rest of the Host Club members snapped their heads in Kyouya's direction.

There was a long, long pause. Kyouya was about to ask what it was that she wanted again before she spoke up.

_"...Nothing. Nevermind."_

The line dropped.

Kyouya blinked a couple of times before shutting the phone closed and dropping it back into his pocket. As he turned around, he found himself being tackled and pushed against the window by the worried idiot king.

"How is Haruhi?! Is she okay, what happened to my daughter?!" He held onto Kyouya shoulders in a tight grip, his violet eyes and loud voice demanding answers.

Kyouya, not nearly phased, pushed his glassed up and answered, "She didn't say anything."

"LIAR!" Tamaki cried as he pushed Kyouya a little harder against the window. He looked into Kyouya's eyes and tried with all of his might to believe that he was lying.

Kyouya stared back, only waiting for Tamaki to let him go.

Tamaki sunk down to the floor at Kyouya's feet. "Lia-ar-arr..." he cried again. He pulled his knees to his chest and hid his face in them, shaking his head.

The rest of the idiot parade migrated over to Kyouya's feet, ready for action.

"She's okay, Milord."

"Yeah, don't worry so much about her."

"Tama-chan, look, cake!"

The quiet consoling uproar at his feet made Kyouya nearly shake his head. This was one of those times when he wondered, how, _why_ was he stuck with all of these idiots. What in the world did he do to deserve this?

He sighed, once again, out of the many times before, pushing the thoughts away. "Idiot. I'll call Haruhi back--"

Tamaki's head raised with shining, irresistably happy eyes.

"--But I can't assure that I'll get an answer." Before he could look into Tamaki's newly saddened expression, Kyouya turned away again and dialed the number.

_"Hello...?" _Her voice cracked a little, and she tried to clear it. She sniffed very subtly before re-answering. _"Hello?"_

"Haruhi, is everything alright?"

_"Oh, yeah, sorry about before. I...forgot what I was going to say."_

"Actually, I mean that it sounds like you were crying."

Tamaki stood up quickly and went to reach for the phone, but Kyouya moved away.

_"..."_

Ah, the ever significant pause in the line has greeted their phone call once again.

_"...Oh, um, no, I--"_

"Haruhi."

_"Erm, yes?"_

Kyouya sighed again, pushing his glasses up. "I believe the situation's right, but we don't want to drop in unexpectedly--"

_"Woah, wait, Kyouya-senpai, what are you saying?"_

"I'm saying that we should probably check up on you, so we'll drop by later today--"

"_No! I mean, you don't have to do that, I-I'm sure that everyone's busy."_

"Hm. Well, let's ask, shall we?" Kyouya held the phone up in front of the others. "Is anyone busy after school today?"

"Nope, not us."

"Well, I can eat cake later, so nope!"

"No."

"If it concerns my daughter then of course not!"

Kyouya smirked and put the phone back to his ear. "So, we'll be there as soon as we can."

Silence.

"Haruhi?"

_Beeeeeeeeeep._

Kyouya looked at the phone. Haruhi had already hung up.

He snapped it shut and turned to the rest of the group. "Everyone, we're going to Haruhi's."

/\.2./\

She threw the cellphone away from her, letting it collapse on the grass near the playground. She cringed slightly when it almost hit one of the kids that was running around with his friends. However, looking at his smiling freckled face, he had no idea that he could have been impaled by a flying object.

Haruhi slumped foward, putting her elbows on her knees and leaning on her hands. Through the bangs that slid in front of her eyes, she stared at the children, particularly the one that she had almost hit. He could be running around all day, all year around without knowing he could have gotten hurt. He could laugh, smile, play as much as he wanted without a worry.

Why were simple things like that so easy to be jealous of?

What would she be like right now, this second, if she had no idea that her father died, and would never ever learn? Would she be just as happy as the child running around? Would she be unaware of the world around her? Or would she be miserable anyway, not knowing where her father must be?

If anything else, what if that car had slowed down just a little bit? What if the impact had been slightly less? Would this be happening right now? Would she even be_ thinking_ about something like this right now?

Haruhi placed her face in her palms, shaking her head. Children were so lucky. They didn't have to worry. She would kill to be a child again, just like the kids across from her.

However, wasn't her childhood almost exactly like this, as it is now? Her mother died when she was only growing out of her toddler years, and she had to carry that even up to the point of her father, the only other person related to her that was left, dying himself. Did she even have a normal, happy childhood, like the other kids?

_Or did all of the happy things pass by without her acknowledging it?_

She picked up her head again and leaned back on the bench. Upon doing so, she caught a glimpse of a few grey clouds in the distance. However, she shielded her eyes from the sun above her, not needing to go blind.

She sighed. All of this...

_It was taking just a little too long._

/\.2./\

Three black and shining cars were parked in front of the Fujioka residence.

Six boys, clad in casual spring-clothing, stood in front of the door, marked 'Fujioka'.

There was, however, no answer from that door.

Tamaki would knock his knuckles against it every few seconds, and calling Haruhi's name every other few seconds as well. However, each and every second, there wasn't an answer.

Almost too naturally, Tamaki panicked within the first two minutes.

"Haruhi?! Where's my daughter, Kyouya, you said she would be here!" he yelled, again turning accusingly toward Kyouya.

"I only assumed she would be here. Maybe she went out for a walk?" Kyouya mused calmly.

"Or maybe she went out to the commoner's supermarket!" Hunny mused as well, almost too happily.

"Yeah," Mori agreed.

"Hey, you never know boss," Hikaru started.

"She might just be sleeping," Kaoru finished.

Something seemed to click in Tamaki's mind, and he got closer to the door.

"Haruhi, my darling little girl, I will sing a lullaby for you! Let my beautiful voice grace your ears!" he called loudly through the door.

"That isn't neccesary, milord," the twins said quickly before the king could even begin.

Hunny, who was ignoring the scenario, was looking through the bars across from the doorways of the apartments and up into the sky. He blinked before turning to Mori to grab his attention.

"Look, Takashi! It looks like it's going to rain!" he said to the much taller of the two. Mori leaned on the bar and looked up into the sky as well and nodded.

"If it's going to rain, I suggest we find Haruhi," Kyouya told the group.

"But, isn't Haruhi inside?" Tamaki and the twins asked.

"No. I tracked her phone down, and it says that she's at least five miles away."

Tamaki went to grab the phone once again, but failed as Kyouya moved his arm away.

"What is Haru-chan doing so far away from home?" Hunny asked.

"I'm not very sure," Kyouya lied. "However, we might as well look for her now before she gets stuck in the rain."

The twins looked at each other, and back at Kyouya, asking, "But, doesn't she know if it's going to rain?"

"Yes, she might. However, did you think of this; when she left the school, there wasn't any signs of rain. And, assuming she went directly home, there most likely wasn't any signs of rain either. Which means that she probably doesn't have an umbrella or jacket to keep her from getting wet and cold. And, being that five miles is a bit of a long walk, she will most likely get stuck in the rain, even if she begins walking right now." To finish his logic, Kyouya added, "And if it's a thunderstorm, she probably won't be on her way home. She'll most likely be looking for the closest shelter instead."

Everyone nodded, and Tamaki jumped toward the stairway, exclaiming, "That settles it! Everyone, our mission is to look for Haruhi!"

/\.2./\

The clouds began to roar overhead. The children were gathered by their parents and rushed into nearby vehicles and under umbrellas. The once bright and sunny park quickly grew dark.

Haruhi was still on the bench, calmly breathing. Her body was curled up slightly to fit. Her eyes were closed.

She was fast asleep.

The clouds moved closer, roaring louder.

There was nothing pulling her out of it.

Not even the loud booming and bright strikes of lightning.

_Nothing._

...

...

...

_I heard, heard myself _

_Say things I_ take back.

_If I could, could retell_

_And make these_ stories last.

_I see, see shadows_

_Of who we'll _always_ be._

_When I drive, drive these roads_

_That made these_ memories.

_When we were only kids, _

_And we were_ best of friends_,_

_And we _hoped_ for the _best_, _

_And_ let go_ of the rest. _

_The_ shadows and regrets_, let go of the rest._

_

* * *

_

A/N: Thanks for waiting for chapter two everyone ^_^

Chapter three will be out sometime later within the next week, I believe.

**Disclaimer: Shadows and Regrets (c) Yellowcard**


	3. Thunderstorms

A/N: Okay guys, I changed a few things (already? It's only the third chapter, Abby!)

But, first things first, thank you all for the good reviews ^_^

Okay, now for the things I changed:

**The Summary:** _Haruhi, with her father just passed away, must cope with life, alone. The Host Club, however, has no idea of the trauma their fellow host is living with. How long can she keep a secret? "Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive."_

Tell me if you like the new one better, because I don't know. By the way, that quote at the end of it is from "Goodbye Love" from the musical RENT.

**Chapter One: **Not drastic changes like the first time I re-edited it. However, at the end of Chapter 2, there was a song. So I went on and added a song to the end of Chapter 1, too ^_^ The songs at the end aren't very important, just a touch, so you don't have to go back and read it if you don't want to.

I think that pretty much covers for changes.

And I've planned out what I want to write up until Chapter 7, so the story will be easier to write ^_^

This is a long Author's Note, so I'll just get on to the chapter!

**Disclaimer:**Ouran High School Host Club (c) Bisco Hatori

* * *

**_..:_3_:.._**

**_Thunderstoms_**

_"Kyouya, how dare you!..."_

He sat silently in the back of the black vehicle, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He started intently at the road before him, glancing quickly every now and then to see if Haruhi had moved, via his cell phone.

_"...I support you and raise you, and this is what I get?..."_

He pushed his glasses up as they slid down the bridge of his nose when the car hit a bump in the road. They glinted and hid his coal black eyes just before the sun was hidden away by the heavy, dark clouds.

_"...Why can't you be as hard-working as your brothers?..."_

The sudden darkness made him turn his head to his car door window. He looked up into the sky, his dark eyes revealed by the disappearing glare in his glasses. He let a small frown grace his tight lips when a drop of liquid hit the window.

_"...You're a disgrace to this family..."_

He looked down again at his phone, and found himself close enough to where Haruhi should be. He told the driver in a stern voice, "Stop." The driver obeyed, and the vehicle lurched foward a little and settled. The two cars behind him, holding the rest of the Host Club, stopped as well.

_"...You must take your work seriously to make it in this world, Kyouya Ootori..."_

Rather than the driver coming around to open his door, Kyouya opened it himself, stepping out of the car and onto the dampened sidewalk. He closed the door behind him and began walking foward, not hesitating one step to let the rest catch up.

_"...Because in the end, the only one that can save you if you are falling is yourself..."_

The rain began to fall softly, tiny drops pattering everyone's heads and shoulders. Drops fell onto Kyouya's glasses, distorting his vision slightly. He took them off, not ceasing his steps, and dried the lenses with his shirt. He pushed them back on, not noticing Tamaki's hand retreating from him. He had nearly run into a bench that was placed on the side, next to a black fence that closed in a grassy area with a long paved trail and a playground in the middle.

_"...So, get yourself prepared, or you're going to fall..."_

He looked down at his phone again. Haruhi was so close.

_"...Do you understand that?..."_

He led them into the fenced-in area, and the sky roared, as if telling them to go away. But, they continued on their search. The sky threw down a downpour, making the area grey and blurry. Kyouya looked down at his phone again, which was once again hard to read. not only because of his glasses catching a few of the new rain drops, but also the screen of his phone collecting some drops as well. But, it didn't matter. The screen blinked, telling them they had found what they were looking for.

_"...Yes, father."_

...

...

...

The group was encircled around the device that Kyouya's phone had led them to. It was shining from the constant rainfall, surrounded by wilting grass. After a long moment of just staring at it, Kaoru bent over and gathered it into his hand. It almost slipped from his uncomfortably dampened hand as he stood back up. He flipped it open as the sky cracked again and gave a glance over to Tamaki, who was looking around in worry, arms crossed and rubbing his arms nervously.

"Milord," the youngest twin called, grabbing the blonde's attention through the loud rain. He almost had to look away from his King's frightened violet eyes as he questioned, "You called Haruhi 20 times?"

As the remaining eyes turned to look at Tamaki for confirmation, the blonde turned his gaze away, flustered.

"W-well, you see, I-I thought that maybe Ha-Haruhi would have answered to her Daddy..."

While the King explained his reason through the constant stuttering (whether it be from nervousness or the cold, possibly both), Hunny had walked out of the group circle and peered through the rain at an oddly-shaped object, seemingly running away. He began to walk away like a toddler leaving his mother at the supermarket to look at the assortment of candies (of course, Hunny had never gotten the chance to do such a thing), intent on finding out what the creature was.

"...And as you know, young ladies need to stay away from such things, so I called to ask if she had already ran into a stalker, or a pedophile, or a man of those likes..."

Mori noticed almost instantly that the small boy had left and slithered his way to Hunny's side. He, too, noticed the running creature. Hunny looked up at him with his large gold-brown eyes, and Mori lifted the smaller onto his shoulders. He began to follow the shadowy creature.

"...So, naturally, as her father, I didn't want the angry pink hippo to attack her from the sky, so I called to warn her!..."

Hikaru and Kaoru, both becoming bored of their King's rambling, peeked their heads around Kyouya and noticed the two inseparable teens walking away through the loud downpour. As a booming crash of thunder rattled their ears, they looked at each other. Glancing back at their leader and shrugging, Kaoru still clutching onto the dropped cellphone, they, too, left the used-to-be circle, leaving Kyouya standing in a bored stance as Tamaki still continued to ramble about 20 various reasons (lies) pertaining to why he called Haruhi.

Kyouya had noticed as far back to when Hunny began to wander away, however, he had not known what exactly he was trying to follow, or if he was following anything, for that matter. Therefore, he didn't see the need in following.

However, as the rain didn't show any signs of weakening, and Tamaki showed no signs of stopping his never-ending babble, Kyouya, with a calm smile on his face, interrupted the blonde's rambling, saying, "Tamaki, you do notice that everyone has walked away, don't you?"

Tamaki's voice stopped erupting through the crowded air, and he spun violently, searching for the rest of his family. Once he spotted the group, he turned quickly to grab Kyouya's hand, and turned back again, yelling, "Hey, guys! Wait!"

Kyouya hadn't expected the quick motion, and was still a little stunned as the idiot ran quickly, fumbling over the slippery mud and his wet shoes, probably soon forgetting that he was dragging 'Mom' around. Being that the rest of the group was running as well, he had to run faster than them to catch up. Mind you, Kyouya wasn't very keen on anything physical that did not include a profit of any sort, so he gradually became more and more irritated as he was dragged through the mud, stumbling over his own two feet as he tried to keep up with 'Daddy'.

In the process of stumbling and slipping, Kyouya's glasses slipped off of his nose and sat on his upper lip and dangled from his ears, the only chance they had to save them from falling into the various puddles of mud. As soon as Tamaki dragged themselves close enough to the rest of the group, Kyouya's hand was freed, and he took the glasses off completely to dry the raindrops off again. Once he slipped the spectacles back on, he looked ahead, just barely able to make out the running group.

Kyouya, definitely not keen on following them, decided to take his own wandering elsewhere. There was a reason that he was here, and that was to find Haruhi. Because, if Haruhi were to become sick for too long, her customers leaving would most likely make the Club's profit drop a good amount. Couldn't have that, now could we?

He decided that he would take the opposite route, in hopes of finding the female Host quicker if everyone looked seperately (of course, he was the only one thinking this idea obviously, since the other five were still together). If they happened to stumble upon her on their route, then great. If he found her first, excellent. If everyone met up without any sign, then a search party would be called over. Simple as that.

He stepped off of the over flooding grassy area onto the less filthy sidewalk. He made it about ten steps before his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Sighing, he pulled it out and flipped it open just as a crack of lightning lit up the area. Before he answered the call, he could have sworn he saw someone out of the corner of his eye running toward him, about 70 or so feet off.

_"Kyouya!! Where did you go?!" _Even through the loud rain and rumbling skies, Kyouya still had to pull the phone away to save his ear from Tamaki's over-thunderous voice. He grunted and continued to walk down the path.

"I'm on the opposite side of the park, you idiot. I wasn't going to follow everyone," he replied in a foul tone.

_"B-But, why not?!" _Tamaki cried.

"Because I intend on looking for Haruhi. I have no idea if any of you are doing the same thing, which I _doubt_ you are, but at least if I go in a different direction than you, we have a stronger chance of finding her opposed to if we all searched together."

The line was silent for a few moments. Then, abruptly, Kyouya pulled the phone away from his ear, the action almost making him step off of the sidewalk, as Tamaki yelled at each of the other hosts to go in different directions. Kyouya could hear them faintly agree, and the line clicked, without a goodbye.

He sighed as he flipped the phone shut and slipped it back into his pocket. The sky roared at him. He glared up at it, his glasses shielding his eyes from the rain. The sky roared, softer this time. Kyouya nodded, and looked back on his path. Even the sky couldn't beat his glare.

He took his glasses off once again, but just placed them inside his pocket, becoming fed up with constantly taking them off, cleaning them, and putting them back on, only for the rain to collect, and for the annoying process to take hold again. It was pointless. It wasn't as if his sight was so bad that he would run into something the second he took his glasses off--

_CLASH._

Immediately, he stepped back, not only embarrassed because this just completely contradicted what he was thinking, but also annoyed. Who in the world had the right to just run into him? Did they not _see _him? Yes, it was foggy, and still raining, but honestly? They were definitely close enough to see each other.

He looked down at the person, giving them a cold glare. The person didn't look back up. Rather, he seemed to be covering his ears as he sat on his knees. The thunder cracked again, and he hunched over. He was whimpering.

Well, something seemed familiar.

He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and slipped them back on. Before he looked down again, he saw a crowd of running shadows, most likely the over-energized Host Club. Before he could let the rain collect again on his glasses, he looked down at the person trembeling at his feet. As another clash of both thunder and lightening passed, Kyouya called her name.

"Haruhi."

The figure looked up, eyes overflowing with water, mixing with the rain profusely falling on her face. He looked up again breifly, checking where the rest were. Why did they still seem so far away? What, were they running on treadmills?

Looking back down at Haruhi, he saw as her head ducked down again, as if trying to hide from the monstrosities she was dealing with. He sighed, and said her name again.

"Haruhi."

She looked up again, and he held his hand out to her, the center of his palm quickly collecting rain. She timidly reached up, still somewhat afraid of the demon Host, her hand shaking from drop-dead fear.

_Rrrr--B-BBOOM-BOOM._

At the frightening sounds, her hand jolted up, reaching his, and he grabbed onto it, pulling her up with ease. As he brought her slightly closer to him, he looked up, hearing a small thunder of footsteps come closer. Ah, stepped off the treadmill, he told himself.

Haruhi shivered and trembled under his arms, trying to hide away from the rumbling sky overhead. He sighed quietly to himself and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her tighter, not used to comforting anyone whatsoever. However, he supposed, it had to be done. Besides, the King of Idiots would be very upset if Mom didn't help his precious daughter. An upset King would be another possibility in the dowfall of happy customers, thus leading to lower percentage in profits.

Holding Haruhi it is.

"Kyou-kuuun!" Kyouya's dark eyes drifted to the small boy atop the tallest of the boys, and Haruhi turned her head a fraction to look as well. The entire group was still together, half-running in a group at the same pace, which only goes to show that they only split up for a short amount of time or ended up walking in cirlces and finding each other anyway (most likely the latter of the two, with Tamaki's powerful and commanding voice). However, once the twins and the King noticed that Haruhi had been found, their paces quickened, leaving Mori and Hunny behind.

As she watched them come closer, she noticed that their hair was matted down completely with rain, their faces flushed from the cold. Their clothes were darkened and splotched from the constant rain soaking through it, probably chilling them. Once two pairs of coral eyes and a pair of violet reached her own plain brown, Haruhi was nearly snatched away by the three of them away from Kyouya, as if the Shadow King was about to poison their princess. Which, of course, was not the case, but these were possibly the biggest idiots of the entire club. Their small minds could come up with just about any excuse to get their Haruhi back.

Kyouya, as he got small death glares from the three, only smiled that devious smile of his, letting his eyes close in the process. 'Tch' sounds came from the small group.

However, they forgot about their short-lived war as another burst of lightning made Haruhi jump. Tamaki was the first to react and held her close, feeling he had a special privilege since he was 'Daddy'.

Haruhi didn't seem to think much of who was holding onto her, or whatever reason they felt they had the right to. She just needed to block out all of this _sound._ All of this _light._ Just get it away.

Though Tamaki was the one who was holding her so deathly close, Kaoru was the first to speak to her since the group had claimed her. Calmly, he stood next to Tamaki and crouched down ever so slightly, just enough for the much shorter Haruhi to hear him over the roars.

"Haruhi, let's get you home."

And gently, she nodded, and let herself be led out of the dark park and into the comfort of a dry, quiet car.

Arm around her shoulder, Tamaki kept the ride as quiet as he could, except once telling his driver to follow Kyouya back to the Fujioka residence.

However, this seemingly small task was found difficult to the ever-talking King. Time and time again, he fought the urge to strike up a conversation, only wanting to know how his daughter was feeling, and why she was in the park, and why she was running away, and why she wasn't safe in her own home.

There were just many things to ask. But he had to fight every single one.

He turned to her once, very briefly, fighting himself to not talk, and saw that she was no longer trembeling. No longer whimpering, no long shivering.

Instead, she kept her eyes in her lap. For whatever reason he just didn't know, she was still crying.

He looked out of the window, and the storm looked as if it was passing, now only light showers. There wasn't anymore thunder or lighting, so...

"Haruhi, what's wrong?" he asked gently, finally. He almost smacked himself for disturbing the silence. He scolded himself repeatedly in his head, wondering what in the world he was thinking when he did that.

It didn't seem to matter that he asked, though. Haruhi, suddenly realizing her own tears, quickly wiped them away with her fingers and fist and produced a fake smile, looking up at her senpai with honest eyes, desperately covering up the upset facade.

"Tamaki-senpai, there's nothing wrong," she answered him, her voice sweet and -_ hopefully_ - convincing.

The way that his eyes brightened a little, she took it that her act worked.

"Ah, are you sure? I could have sworn I saw you crying--"

"Tamaki-senpai, we're at my place, isn't that great?" she interrupted quickly, trying to distract him from her earlier tears. She still wore the fake happy mask, trying to convince Tamaki that there was no room for any more talking. As soon as the car stopped about a second and a half later, she nearly jumped out of the car, simply desperate get out of the idiot's clutches.

She tried to, as casually as possible, make a quick getaway to her own home without any of the Hosts following her. But, unfortunately for her, that would not be the case. Kyouya was already standing there, with a gaurd of his standing up straight next to him, towels draped over his arm. Kyouya had one draped around his neck, his hair dried off already.

"Haruhi, would you mind letting us all in?" he asked in his sour-sweet voice, coaxing Haruhi into letting them all in.

In all honesty, all he wanted to do was:

A.) Get somewhere where is wasn't so disgustingly humid outside, and

B.) Possibly find anything else out about Haruhi's lifestyle now that her father was gone. (It could be used for horrible blackmail later on, but he doubted he would need it on Haruhi. Maybe next time, on someone he really didn't like, with a passed away relative.)

Haruhi stiffened slightly, but sighed. Instead of like last time, where she used a key to open her front door, she simply turned the knob and pushed it open. As the other Hosts gathered around and watched this, they seemed appalled slightly. Why didn't she use a key like the normal Haruhi would?

They all stepped inside, used to the small area from stopping by so much, but they all somehow felt...odd. Like, something wasn't right. Something _was missing_...

"Haru-chan, you have enough food, right?" Hunny piped up, thinking that was the thing missing. The other stared at him, sweatdrops adorning the sides of their heads.

Haruhi turned to him with a questioning look. "Erm, yes? Why, does it seem like I don't?"

Hunny panicked very slightly. "Ah, no no Haru-chan! Just asking," he covered up sweetly.

She shrugged, letting the odd question go.

Hunny let out a quiet, relieved sigh once she turned her back to make tea.

"Do you guys want tea?" she asked without turning around, not pulling out the ingredients just yet.

Tamaki immediately answered. "Why, how kind of you Haruhi! Yes, I believe all of us could use some nice hot tea, prepared by my own little girl!" His arms flew with dramatic gestures, seemingly making everyone else migrate to the other room to sit around the table, ignoring the usual 'get-dramatic-over-bearly-nothing' Tamaki act.

Haruhi nodded, which didn't go un-observed by the rest. What, wait, she wouldn't get irritated like usal? No foul comment to make him shut up? _Nothing?_

As Haruhi prepared the tea in silence, the Host Club worriedly discussed what could have been wrong with their undercover female Host.

"Hey, what's wrong with Haruhi?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, she seems so..." Kaoru trailed off.

"Strange," they both finished together.

Tamaki nodded. "Indeed, she does seem off...I wonder what's happening to my little girl..."

"Maybe she's upset about something!" Hunny suggested in a hushed voice.

"Yeah," Mori agreed.

"Hm, but I wonder what that would be?" Kaoru wondered aloud.

"Maybe it was the storm?" Hikaru thought, aloud as well.

"That's a possibilty, gentlemen! Who knows how long she was out there, all by herself!" Tamaki agreed.

Kyouya stayed silent, mentally smirking to himself, listening to all of the wrong answers be thrown around the small table between each other.

Soon enough, Haruhi returned with a tray of tea, the cups not all the same, just as last time. As she set them down for each of the guests, everyone's eyes, save Kyouya's, watched her, examining her calm yet slightly disturbed features. As she sat down, she noticed this, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What?" she asked them. None of them answered right away. Instead, Kyouya answered instead.

"Ah, they're curious as to why you look a little displeased," he answered for them. Again, the idiot trio sent him a glare, unhappy that he blew their cover.

However, Hunny nodded in agreement. "Kyou-kun's right, Haru-chan. You look kind of sad. Is something wrong?"

Haruhi went silent. The rest of the crew looked at her, waiting for an answer.

She stood up, without thinking, and blurted, "I forgot to get the mail! Please excuse me!"

And she ran out of the door, without another word, just to run away from that question.

The Club stared after her, even after she slammed the door shut.

Kyouya pushed his sliding glasses up again. "She can't run away forever," he muttered quietly to himself, the others looking at the door still, wondering what in the world just happened.

...

...

...

_Some live in towns  
Cardboard shack on concrete  
All_ bluster_ and_ bustling life  
_They search for the _color_ you can_ never quite see  
_Cause it's all_ white on white

_Even now when_ I'm alone  
_I've always known _with you  
I am home.

* * *

A/N: So, that's it for chapter 3. Sorry for a bit of an extended wait (was it?). I've been a bit tired and busy lately ^_^;; But, it should ne all back in place on Friday.

Chapter 4 will be out ASAP.

-Abby

**Home (c) Vanessa Carlton**


	4. Stairs

A/N: I can explain why it's taken a month to finally get this chapter out.

The first 3 and a half weeks were laziness. The next week was a trip to New Orleans, where the night before I had already written up about half of the chapter you are about to read now.

The next 13 days were just coming back and forth to write a few words in this chapter.

But now, I've finally found an inspiration to write the rest of this chapter and begin the next.

And that would be, at 12:12 in the morning, my tears.

I won't say anything else but this: If you're going to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, just prepare yourself, please.

Although that may not save you from the tenth and last installment of the book.

Without any further ado, please enjoy the fourth chapter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or it's characters - they go to Bisco Hatori**

* * *

**_..:_4_:.._**

_**Stairs**_

_"Ah, Kaoru, there you are!..."_

Hikaru stared at the closed door, which just before emitted a loud and heavy slam. His golden eyes didn't wander away from the now silent entrance to the small, fit-for-two apartment.

_"...Oh, I'm very sorry Hikaru! I keep thinking that you're your brother..."_

Even though there wasn't a sound, and even though he didn't see it, Hikaru knew that his mirrored reflection was doing the same exact thing as he was -- staring with the same golden eyes, listening to the same silence.

_"...And I always think that your brother is you!..."_

Except, his reflection was not named 'Hikaru', like he was; rather, the reflection's name was 'Kaoru'.

_"...It's almost impossible to tell you two apart, you know..."_

But, what did it matter who was who? There wasn't a difference between them. They shared the same looks, the same attitude, same voice, same thoughts, same, same, same, all the same. For all it mattered, they could both be Hikaru, or they could both be Kaoru, or they could both be 'those two guys'. Or - even better! - they could both be _no one._ Who knew the difference anyway?

_"...I sometimes wonder if anyone will be able to tell you boys apart..."_

Well, of course, there was that _one _person.

_"...Oh well! Find your brother, it's time for supper..."_

Haruhi. She was the only one who knew. She knew that there was only one Hikaru. She knew that there was only one Kaoru. No duplicates, no mirrors, no clones. Two separate images. Two separate _beings. _

_"...You're Hikaru, right?..."_

She knew the difference no one else seemed to find. She found the differences that even they themselves didn't know about. She was special. Miraculous.

_Missing._

_"...Yeah, it's me, mom."_

...

...

...

Hikaru and Kaoru, with the same golden eyes, stared for the same seconds, minutes, seemingly hours as everyone else did. The silence that wafted above their heads, raining down on them, was a spell none of them could seem to break. A curse, bounding them to their spots, tying them up, taping their mouths closed. A magic trick, a wave of the devil's wand, freezing them.

However, those powers seemed to waver as Kyouya blinked quietly and slowly turned his head away from the nothingness, breaking the bounds away from his passionless face, tearing the invisible fabric. It seemed as if with a snap of his slender fingers, or perhaps a clap of his pale hands, the dark overlord could easily defeat the forces fighting against all of them and set them free! ...Then again, this _was _the dark overlord; too busy with his own needs to notice, _far _too busy with himself to even care for anything that even breathes outside of his own body.

Such fools to think that he would break the curse for anyone but himself, hah.

Kyouya's dark eyes were hidden as his eyelids calmly rested over them. His straight lips curved into a sleek, knowing smile. They moved gently as he muttered a few words, the other and still magic-stricken inhabitants unable to hear the nearly silent statement.

_"She can't run away forever."_

/\.4./\

She stared at nothing. She spoke of nothing. She breathed nothing. She was nothing.

The last step of the staircase was Haruhi's landing. As she was staring at the nothing, her hand glided over the ridged, then smooth, then ridged again steel step, subconsciously. Layers of dirt footsteps, washed away from the earlier storm and sitting as mud underneath the steps, were reincarnated as new footsteps, consisting of Haruhi's and those of who sat in her home now.

Home. Did it even have the right to be called that anymore? She always heard the saying 'Home is where the Heart is'. If that was so, then what was the enclosed box she now lived in, alone? With no one to come home to, no purpose to really enter the box, what was it?

An apartment, she concluded. Just an apartment.

And she left it at that.

Her fingers continued their journey across the ridged, smooth, ridged single step. Once they reached the end, the glided softly through the air as Haruhi picked her hand up and then placed back at the beginning to begin their ridged-smooth-ridged journey once again.

As she continued to do this, she noticed the pattern on the step was similar to her own life. A ridged start; her mother dying when she was still a child, being made fun of in elementary school for having a homosexual father (though, this was always a misconception - he was bisexual). Then, everything eventually smoothed out; made good friends in middle school (such as Arai), was accepted into Ouran Academy, met the Host Club--

Her fingers stopped right where the smooth met the ridged.

Well, wait, she thought. At the _time _it wasn't so great. She was forced in because she broke that ridiculously high-priced vase! But then after she got promoted from Host Club Dog to Host Club Member: The Natural, things got more fun, and she even befriended the others and...

She looked down at her hand and she jumped slightly. Quickly, she picked the hand up and wiped the dirt on her jeans, a sweatdrop inching its way down her temple.

What in the world was she _doing! _She continued to rub her hand against her jeans as if trying to wipe away what she just did, even though she knew that wouldn't work whatsoever. But, _really? _That was probably the stupidest thing she had ever thought of. Comparing a dirty steel step to her own life? Come on, Haruhi, get it _together..._

With a heavy sigh, she leaned back against the stair behind her with her hands loosely grabbing her shins, and looked up.

Her brown eyes gazed at the after-rain blue sky, thin white puffs of cloud quietly floating by before her, the sun hiding with a sneaky smile on the other side of the building, casting cool shadows.

And out of the corner of her eye, a misty rainbow.

She closed her eyes and let her hands go, placing them back on the steel step, and leaned back on them.

I need to get out of here, she told herself.

Before she was able to push herself up, a door squeaked open from above her, and heavy, but somehow quiet footsteps began to walk. They were steady and slow, and coming near. She didn't turn around when they walked down the stairs, advancing one step more towards her. Her eyes stayed straight ahead, even as the thunking from the steps became louder. She didn't think. She didn't have to right now. She had an idea who it was.

The thunking suddenly stopped, and the railing to the right squeaked as he leaned on it. Haruhi still didn't turn around. However, she said one thing.

"Mori-senpai?"

He grunted in response.

/\.4./\

After Mori quietly left, Hikaru felt obligated to look at Hunny, which meant that Kaoru did as well. Almost as if on que, they both turned at the same time, their hair brushing in the same direction as they did so. Their eyes held the same question: Why did he leave without you?

Hunny, of course, caught this gaze and smiled. "Takeshi just wanted to get away from the quiet!"

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki (yes, of course he was in the conversation!) sweatdropped, thinking to themselves, He's the quietest one here!

Hunny giggled quietly, knowing what they were thinking.

Tamaki looked at Kyouya, and inched himself closer, inconspicuously. Kyouya noticed the movement of course, but didn't react. The King peered at what the dark-haired Host was writing in his seemingly secret notebook. The violet eyes narrowed as a mask while his head spun, becoming instantly confused by the contents of the notebook. It was mind-boggling what was written in there!

All of it was _numbers!_

Tamaki tried to meet Kyouya's eye, but the glint in his glasses forbid him from doing so. Thus, the blonde tore his eyes away dramatically, speaking his tale of woe to no one but himself, like an actor going over his lines one last time before letting his costumed-presence be known on the stage.

Kyouya, however, sighed, like the director of the show watching the actor go on at the wrong time and sputter out the lines of the wrong character. He didn't turn his head, nor put down his pen, but he responded to the dramatic gesture, saying, "It's simple math, idiot."

The actor pranced back to the director in dismay. "But, Kyouya! Why? Why so many?!"

The director sighed to himself mentally in annoyance while trying to calm the distressed actor. "It's as many that needs to be there. Could you not be so loud?"

The actor ignored the gesture and continued his panic. "So...So many numbers to consume the human mind! Why, why would one think of such a torture! Do people have any ounce of _shame _these days?! Why, I would go as far as ban such extreme tortures! Yes, in fact, I will! I will ban this torture called 'math' and save our dear Kyouya and others around the world! I will!--"

"Uh, milord..." Kaoru began.

"Don't you think that's a little..." Hikaru continued.

"_Too much?"_ they finished together.

The actor repeated his tales of woe to himself as he shuffled his way to the closet, hiding his face in his arms.

Even Kyouya had a sweatdrop slide down the side of his head to that ridiculous speech. The twins tried to console the idiot King as Hunny sneaked his way to the door and peeked outside. Lips pursed in though and Usa-chan close to him, he wondered aloud, "I wonder where Haru-chan and Takeshi are?"

This made Tamaki jump out of his sad shell and dive for the door. Hunny ducked for cover with a squeak, afraid the King would crash into him. This caused Tamaki to fly out the door and nearly flip over the banister, and had his reflexes not acted quick enough for him to grab hold of the metal railing and save himself, he probably would have died. Then the world would be sad. Boo hoo, cry cry, sob. Okay, that's enough.

He pushed back and stood up straight on the walkway, ready to save his little girl from being stolen by the mean, horrible Mori-monster!

The saying was true! It always _was_ the quiet ones! Augh, Mori, why would you do such a horrible thing!_ Why?!_

Tamaki, with his new found rage stormed down the metal steps, his shoes clanking loudly and alarming the two Hosts at the bottom of the stairs. Mori turned quickly and grabbed Haruhi by her hand, swiftly moving out of the way before the raging blonde could run the two of them over and, gasp, kill them! (Boo hoo, cry cry, sob. Enough now.)

Haruhi whirled her head to the stairs and watched as Tamaki sped out into the street with a tail of dirt and dust trailing after him. She looked shaken, not expecting to be pulled away so quickly. Especially by Mori of all people! Forget the fact that Tamaki almost killed her, she gets that all the time every day ...Mori?

Very rare.

Very rare,_ indeed. _

The quiet savior was gazing at the trail of dust and dirt that was settling back onto the earth, becoming bored of following after the idiot that was still running. He let go of Haruhi's hand and looked down at her. She was still staring in the direction that Tamaki had ran off in.

"Are you alright?" he asked her simply. She looked back up and met his eyes. She nodded quietly.

"Yeah. Thank you, Mori-senpai."

As she looked back, now at nothing since the floating trail had calmed down back into the bed below them, Mori frowned ever so slightly, his straight-lined lips curving down half a degree. This time, as she thanked him, she didn't have the peaceful look in her eyes, not even the thankful smile she gave. Rather, her eyes seemed to be empty - lost of something. Her lips moved robotic-like as she spoke to him briefly. There was almost no feeling to the girl. She seemed deflated, like a once floating party balloon, tied to the mailbox until it had finally sunk so low that it finally would have to be taken away, untied and thrown out.

Mori looked up at Hunny, who had his arms wrapped around the railing. His light brown eyes looked back, asking one single question.

_What's wrong, Takeshi? _

And, for once, Mori didn't answer right away. He pondered, rather. Should he shake his head and lie, just to keep him from worrying? Or shrug his shoulders, but have questions fly at the poor girl anyway?

He couldn't decide quick enough.

Hunny was making his way down the remainder of the steps, intent on asking Haruhi himself. Just as he set his foot on the second to last step, Mori leaned over the other side of the railing and picked the boy up. A questioning noise escaped the small teenager's mouth, but the taller of the two gave him a look.

It was the "Don't-Ask" look that Hunny was given before Haruhi left earlier at school.

Hunny obliged. He didn't say a word.

However, Kaoru and Hikaru escaped Mori's gaze and made their way down the stairs, standing on either side of Haruhi. She didn't look at them. Instead, she moved her head down and kicked the dirt with the tip of her sneaker, watching the small cloud of dust form and settle back down again.

The twins looked at each other with reflected frowns, facing each other above Haruhi's head. She was by no means oblivious to the action - she just decided to ignore it.

The twins' golden eyes then looked back down at the girl next to them.

"Ha--"

They looked sharply up at each other, narrowed glares burning into each others skulls.

_No, _I'M _going to ask her, not you!! _

_Buzz off!! I'll ask her, _YOU _go and find the idiot or something!_

_No way, _YOU _do that!_

YOU!

**YOU!!**

Growls began to form from their throats, and Haruhi finally looked up. From everyone who was paying attention's perspective (namely Mori, Hunny, and Kyouya), she was going to ask what they were growling about and calm them down.

They should have thought again.

"Would you two idiots _shut the hell up?_"

They instantly stopped.

Haruhi turned around, and a small cloud of dirt rose around her feet and settled quickly. She looked up at the twins.

She first looked at Hikaru, who was at her left. She then turned her head to Kaoru, at her right.

Back and forth. A sliding glare. Scared and confused gazes bore into her.

It was a one-on-four battle. Only one gaze held neither fright nor question.

She glanced up at his bespectacled face, but couldn't meet his eyes. They were covered by the glare in his glasses. But she knew what he was thinking.

_You can't run away forever._

But I can try, she told herself. And I will succeed.

Roughly, she pushed past the two twins and began to storm slowly and quietly up the steps. However, louder and quicker steps began to follow her.

"Fuck," she muttered loudly to herself as she quickened her pace.

Suddenly, the loud stomps receded, and in their place was a loud wail. "MY DAUGHTER'S USING SUCH BAD LANGUAGE! MOM, MAKE HER STOP!"

"Tamaki, I would be quiet," 'Mom' responded.

She growled and began to go two steps at a time, despite her short legs.

Without anyone following, she had made it to the landing. But she didn't stop there. She proceeded to make her way, quickly and quietly, to her door.

Then she stopped.

She didn't look back at the others. She didn't turn around to make a final statement. She just took a deep, deep breath. She held it for a few seconds and let it out.

She turned the knob of her door and stepped inside. Another deep, deep breath.

Her teeth ground against each other in a foul frown, and she threw her arm back and hard as she could, a loud grunt leaving her throat.

The door slammed shut loudly, and those standing at the end of the stairs cringed.

She let the echoes of the slamming door in her head pass. Stiffly, she walked to her bed, anger beginning to fuse from her skin. As calmly as she could, she sat on her bed.

But she came down like a rock. Her hands flew to her face. She drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

Her warm palms began to stick to her face as they became wet. However, they were not wet with sweating fury.

They were wet with warm, disrupted tears.

/\.4/\

Tamaki cringed as the door slammed. He looked down at the others with painful eyes.

"Who..." He stood up from his sitting position on the step. "Who made her so angry?"

No one responded. Hikaru stepped forward onto the first step. Tamaki's eyes snapped over to him.

"Hikaru, was it you?" The king's voice was harsh, and his eyes held anger. Hikaru could only stare back.

Was it me? he wondered himself. Did I make her so angry?

He proceeded to climb up the stairs. Tamaki stood in his way.

"Hikaru, why?" he growled.

Hikaru looked back into Tamaki's cold violet eyes. Tamaki didn't look away.

No, I didn't do anything to her, he told himself. But then...what's wrong? What can I _do_?

"Because..." Hikaru started. He pushed his was past Tamaki. "I have to do_ something_."

This didn't answer Tamaki's question. It answered his own, rather.

The blonde didn't move. He let Hikaru pass. Tamaki looked down with a small, helpless grin.

"Please, help her."

/\.4./\

Hikaru wrapped his hand around the knob and opened the door easily. The locks clicked softly, as did his lips as he sadly grinned.

Haruhi didn't lock the door. What has gotten into her?

The red-head placed his foot inside and closed the door behind him as he fully entered. As he began to take off his shoes, he realized Haruhi's weren't there. She didn't take her shoes off, either.

He frowned. Untying his shoes, he couldn't help but think he heard an abrupt sniffling. He looked up.

There, there it was again. _Sniiiff._

Rather than take the time to untie his other shoe, he took it off with his other foot, placing his toes to the back of the shoe and sliding it off.

_Sniiiff._

Haruhi didn't seem to notice that he was there. He couldn't decide if he wanted to call out her name, or look for her in silence, following the sniffles.

He decided to go for the former.

"Haruhi?" He called out softly at first, but got louder as he realized he wasn't heard. "Ha-Haruhi?" he stuttered.

All sounds seemed to stop. He noticed that even the ticking of the clock had stopped as well.

The batteries must have died, he though randomly to himself whilst trying to distract himself from the silence.

A tiny, accidental creak of a mattress brought him back from his random thought, and his head slowly, quietly, turned to the noise.

Even moving his head, the shuffling of his hair and fluttering of his eyelids, was too much noise for the overbearing quiet.

He tried to breathe in as shallowly, as quietly as humanely possible. Alas, just another clash of noise, a drum set toppling over, the guitar strings snapping, the microphone squeaking and whistling.

Why so much _noise._

In the next room, Haruhi sat as still as she could, her mouth clamped tightly over her mouth to capture any escaping breath, her back straight and body weight symmetrical. Her feet were tipped so only her toes touched the floor, but they were like metal, heavy and hard to pick up.

Her muscles ached, moaning fer her to move. She didn't. She forced herself to refuse. No, she thought. I can't make a noise. I can't let him see me like this. I can't let _anyone _see me like this. Hell, I never even let _Dad_ see me like this...

Her thumb and forefinger that were clamped just above her upper lip became wet as another warm, slimy tear traced the outside of her cheek and landed on her skin. Her chest became tight and her throat twisted. Her other hand, which was placed to her left, gripped the sheets tightly as she tried in strained vain to not make a sound. Her leg muscles screamed in pain as she tried to keep her toes firmly in place.

Her lungs battered against her ribs. Her heart pounded with its fists. _Air! _they screamed at her, along with her gasping lungs.

She had to listen, since the lack of oxygen going to her brain made it nearly impossible to make herself refuse.

Her mouth left her hand.

Hikaru, in the room over, heard near-screaming gasps for air. His feet rushed him to the room.

He stopped in the doorway.

Haruhi sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over and almost falling to the floor in exhaustion and pain. She gulped in large, deep breaths and coughed and sputtered.

Hikaru only stood. He didn't know what to do. He could only watch his friend swallow in air as if she had been forced underwater for ten minutes.

He didn't rush to her aid. He didn't jump into action. All he could do was stand. Stare.

It was many long, overbearing seconds, minutes, until the girl had gathered her breath. She was sitting on the floor now. Her face was red, her eyes puffy and swollen. Her legs were bent awkwardly. Her body was slouched and slumped.

She was a mess, Hikaru concluded quietly.

Of course, it was so, so loud in that place, even in his mind.

Finally, he took a step forward. The floor squeaked softly, loudly. The girl on the floor, his friend, didn't move. She didn't have the strength.

As he took a few more slow, quiet-loud steps, her lips moved softly. Her eyes watched him come forward. She sniffled, but couldn't find the strength to raise her hand and wipe her nose.

"Kaoru..." she whispered. Her voice was so helpless to his ears. She sputtered again as she tried to hold back her breath in attempt to keep her tears away from falling.

The mirror of this 'Kaoru' she whispered stopped. He stared at her.

_Haruhi. She was the only one who knew_.

She hunched over very slightly, and she covered her red face in her shaking hands, sniffling.

_She knew that there was only one Hikaru. She knew that there was only one Kaoru. _

His knees bent slowly, slowly. He felt his kneecaps hit the floorboards as they made a knocking sound.

_No duplicates, no mirrors, no clones. Two separate images. _

He watched her as she tried in harsh attempt to stop her tears from falling into her hands. He wanted to look away. Why couldn't he?

_Two separate_ beings.

She failed.

_She knew the difference no one else seemed to find._

Hikaru, still on his knees, pushed his way toward her with his hands, getting closer, closer, until he was only a foot or two away from his crying friend.

_She found the differences that even they themselves didn't know about. _

She looked up from her hands as his presence was captured. Her one hand twitched forward, wanting to reach out to him. Instead, he reached out to her, catching her hand gently with his.

_She was special_

His conscious was in charge now. He moved himself closer to her, until he could finally pull her only an inch toward him, into him. There, she put her right cheek on his shoulder and bit her lip hard, if only to stop from crying.

_Miraculous._

Warm, soggy air met his ear as she breathed in and out. Her lips moved as if forming words that could not be heard. However, they stopped, for only a brief moment. Then, words.

_Here._

"Thank you, Kaoru."

...

...

...

_If all the flowers _faded away,

_And if all the storm clouds decided to _stay,

_Then you would_ find me_ each hour the same._

_She is _tomorrow_ and I am _today.

_And if right is _leaving,_ I'd rather be _wrong.

_She is the _sunlight_, and the sun is_ gone.

* * *

A/N:

**_She is the Sunlight _(c) Trading Yesterday**


	5. Strength

A/N: I'm so, so,_ so_ sorry for the huuuge delay in putting out chapters. School does things to you. Ugh.

Sorry if this chapter seems a little off track. I lost the notes I had for each chapter, so I may have to wing this one. Unless I actually find the notes.

Also, because of parental blocks, I can't see chapter two at the moment (EDIT: I also can't see this chapter, either). Poop.

Thanks for the reviews that continue to come, even though I haven't updated. Reminded me that I needed to do this ^_^;;

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of its characters – it all belongs to Bisco Hatori.**

P.S - Happy 2010 everyone (:

* * *

**_.:_5_:._**

**_Strength_**

_"Haninozuka-senpai, I know nothing about martial arts, but..."_

Hunny sat with two girls at the table, swinging his legs and laughing along to theirs. He chopped a clump of cake off of its body onto a fork and slid it into his awaiting mouth.

_"...Have you ever wondered what true strength is?..."_

He looked past one of the girls and waved happily at Mori, who sat silently with a couple of other girls as well. Mori looked up and acknowledged the wave by nodding. Hunny giggled, and the girls sitting by him blushed and squealed. "So cu-u-u-ute!" they always crooned. Hunny smiled at the responses he got for small, should-have-been-unnoticeable actions he made.

_"...True strength, I think, isn't so much as a physical thing, but mental..."_

From afar, at his own table, alone with a group of worried onlookers, Tamaki looked at Hunny drowsily. Hunny stared back with eyes filled with confusion. Tamaki then looked away, at the pale girl in the boy's uniform smiling tiredly at her customers. Hunny looked as well, as did Mori, turning in his seat. Haruhi didn't notice the three males looking at her intently.

_"...For instance, a strong man may beat his opponent by using physical force..."_

Haruhi put down the tray of tea carefully on the table where three girls sat huddled together, softly admiring Haruhi's gentleman-like stature, but not at all recognizing the faults that had transformed over the three months since the last storm. However, each and every day, the Host Club members had kept a close eye on their flower, and noticed that she was withering slowly. Hunny in particular noticed Haruhi's thinned wrists whenever her sleeves pulled up. It made him wonder.

_"...but, he really is only weakening his love for humanity if he is so intent on hurting people..."_

It made him wonder, in fact, what was going on in her life that she had gotten so pale, and so thin, and so desperately quiet. He was aware she was already quite quiet, but lately, she hadn't spoken much to any of them. Each time he offered her a piece of cake, she would shake her head, close her dark eyes, and look away from him, back outside of the window or at her hands. It made his heart sink so low on the inside. Denying cake is a crime known to man.

_"...I also think, Haninozuka-senpai, that giving up on loving what you truly do like is like running away..."_

Haruhi picked up her head briefly from the conversation she was in to look at the three hosts, then shifted her eyes back to the girls before her. Tamaki turned and walked away hurriedly. Mori turned around and frowned. Hunny turned back in his seat quietly.

_"...Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world..."_

He picked his hand up and pushed his plate of half-eaten cake away from him gently. He wasn't hungry anymore.

_"...But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart..."_

His stomach, and his heart, felt weak.

_"...That's true strength."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Three months ago, Hikaru felt as if everything that made him, him, had loosened and fallen apart.

Three months ago, he was mistaken for his twin brother, Kaoru, by the only person that could tell them apart. And that person, sitting only footsteps away, looked absolutely terrible. Now, he wasn't insulting her in any way -- in fact, he believed they were still close friends -- but, he noticed something about her appearance that all of the other hosts had noticed as well.

Haruhi had been getting paler and paler and paler. Her eyes were sunken in, with dark circles winding around them, like lost roads missing their destination. Even though she smiled to her customers and acted as if everything was just fine, her acting did not fool her friends. In fact, her acting made them question why.

Why was she trying to fool everyone?

Why was she so pale?

Why were her eyes so dark?

Why was she trying to _hide it?_

Hikaru jumped as a hand was planted onto his shoulder. He turned his head over his other shoulder and sighed.

"Kaoru, don't scare me like that..."

Kaoru wrapped his arms around his brother. "I'm sorry Hikaru! You're just so cute when you jump." Hikaru shook his head and smiled at his brother, but his smile lowered, and he gently broke free of his brother's embrace.

"Kaoru?"

"Hm?"

"Have you noticed anything...different about Haruhi?"

Kaoru lowered his head and his shoulders slumped. "I think everyone has, Hikaru..." he replied quietly. Hikaru sighed.

Haruhi looked up from the table she was laying her head down at and raised an eyebrow at the frowning twins. She could only see Kaoru's face, but they were both slouched. Curious, she sat up in her chair and stretched her back, feeling her spine popping. She stood from the table and strode over to the two. Kaoru looked up at her, and, as if he were afraid of her, took a step back. Haruhi frowned.

"Um, is something wrong?" she asked hesitantly. Kaoru stared at her for a while, and she stared back, frowning. Kaoru blinked and shook his head slowly.

"Nah, everything's okay Haruhi," he answered casually. Hikaru didn't say anything. Haruhi looked at him, craning her neck to see his face. Hikaru shifted his eyes to look at her.

"Hikaru?" she questioned. Hikaru picked his head up and looked away.

"Yeah. Everything's just fine," he told her.

...

...

...

Kyouya sat next to Tamaki with his black notebook in his hand, with the pen tucked inside. Tamaki fidgeted nervously in his seat and sweat dropped from his brow, crossing his left leg over his right, then switching, then switching again. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair anxiously.

"Mm, Kyouya! Why is no one here yet?" Tamaki blurted. Kyouya sighed.

"Just be patient, Tamaki. I'm sure they're on their way." Tamaki scoffed and stood from his chair. He began to pace. Kyouya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Why would they be late? What if something happened? Something _bad?_ What if Haruhi's not feeling well? She didn't look too well before! She hasn't been looking to well for the past few months, actually! What if she's terminally ill?" He turned and grabbed Kyouya's shoulders. "What's wrong with Haruhi!?"

Kyouya stared at Tamaki. "I'm sure she's fine and you're just overreacting," he lied. Evidently, Kyouya was still the only member of the Host Club, excluding Haruhi, aware of Ranka's death. Somehow, Haruhi had kept it secret for so long, and Kyouya decided to spare her and not tell anyone else. For now, anyway.

The door creaked open, and Kyouya looked around Tamaki. Tamaki let go of Kyouya's shoulders and ran toward the two redheads.

"Where were you!?" he cried angrily, narrowing his violet eyes.

Kaoru and Hikaru stepped back with their hands up in defense. "Wahh, milord! Calm down!" Hikaru hollered, startled by the angry King.

"We were just trying to find Ha--"

"Hunny-senpai!" Hikaru interrupted his brother hurriedly. "Hunny-senpai, we were trying to find _Hunny-senpai._" A warning glare was sent to Kaoru, who almost gave them away. Kaoru apologized with his eyes.

Tamaki jumped. "Hunny-senpai? Oh no! He's in trouble, too--!"

"Sorry we're la-a-a-a-ate!" Everyone turned to the high-pitched entrance. Hunny was sitting on Mori's shoulders, waving and giggling.

"Ah! Hunny-senpai, there you are!" Hikaru strained. Hunny looked at him with a confused stare.

"We were looking for you," Kaoru clarified.

"Ohhh! I was eating cake with Takashi!" Hunny smiled, hugging Mori's head.

"Yeah," Mori agreed.

Tamki rushed over to Mori and Hunny. "Have you seen Haruhi?" he asked them worriedly. Hunny cocked his head to the side and frowned.

"I'm not sure where Haru-chan is. Do you, Takashi?"

"No."

Tamaki turned around and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Where in the world is Haruhi--?"

The doorknob turned and the door opened quickly. "I'm here, Tamaki-senpai!" Haruhi sputtered. She was out of breath, her chest rising and dropping heavily. All eyes were on her, the last host to arrive.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki exclaimed worriedly. He pushed past Hunny and Mori and picked Haruhi up in a tight hug, spinning around on his feet. "Haruhi, Haruhi, Haruhi! Where were you? Daddy was worried sick!"

Haruhi only responded in coughing and attempts to push him away from her, even just a little bit to get some air. Hunny clambered off of Mori's shoulders and watched the two spin, a display of blue, black, brown and blonde swirling quickly. Mori took action and stopped Tamaki's spinning and took Haruhi out of his arms, putting his hands under her armpits. As his thumbs ran over the top of her shoulders, he noticed subtly that they were quite bony.

"Hey! That's my daughter!" Tamaki whined as Haruhi was seated in a chair the twins and Hunny quickly grabbed and set next to her. She took a deep breath and slouched. Tamaki stopped his babbling and stared at her. "Haruhi? What happened?"

Haruhi looked at Tamaki as if he were too serious. "Huh? Nothing, I just had to rush here because I got stuck in the library looking for a book." That was a huge lie. She was in the girl's bathroom stall, trying to get herself together before she had to face anybody. But, why in the world would she say that? She did _not _need anyone to be worried about her. She could do this on her own. She has been ever since...

"Oh! Well, that's unacceptable! You were twenty minutes late! The latest you've ever been!" Tamaki cried. Haruhi sighed irritably.

"I know, Tamaki-senpai. It won't happen again." Tamaki stared at her with a look saying "you-better-promise-to-me-right-now-or-else-I'll-follow-you-and-whine-for-the-rest-of-your-life". "I promise," Haruhi concluded.

Tamaki's lips instantly turned upward in a grand smile. "Good! Now, the meeting!..."

The meeting consisted of what every meeting always had -- Hunny's nap, Tamaki and the twins fooling around whilst trying to kill each other, Mori keeping watch, Kyouya calculating prices, and then Haruhi, stuck in the middle of it all. She wasn't in the mood for any of it, and she hadn't been for a long time. Instead, she found that she could have been spending her time catching up on sleep, which was lost due to nightmares and lengthy homework assignments. Some nights, she just couldn't sleep at all, regardless of how much homework she had or the good dreams she had. So she would stay up and look through her father's old things, still not taken away by anyone. She would look through old love letters he wrote to Mom, old trophies, old photographs - she loved the photos the best. The photos were mostly from his teenage and college years, with old friends and concerts. Some photos were of him and Mom, before they were married, but possibly dating or engaged. She kept those photos, of her parents, close to her, and made sure she would never lose them in the mess of things that was her Dad's old belongings.

Finally, during the meeting, Haruhi got a chance to sit at the table Kyouya also sat at, just to get away from the antics of the trio. Kyouya paused his research for a moment to look at Haruhi, then started again. He didn't speak to her, only because he had one question for her that he couldn't say in front of the group; "Is everything alright at home?"

Haruhi crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on top of them, inhaling deeply. She closed her dark dreary eyes, exhausted. This was it. She was done for the day.

Or, so she had hoped.

Time seemed to fly by in seconds. She was woken up by Hunny tugging on her shoulder, nearly screaming in her ear to wake up. She jumped, the first words coming from the small senior's mouth jolting her brain from its sleeping state. By doing so, she nearly elbowed him in the face by accident.

"Haru-cha-a-a-a-n!" Hunny cried, raising his arms and wrapping them around her. "You're awake!"

"Ehh, huh? Yeah, I'm awake Hunny-senpai..." Haruhi mumbled drowsily. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. When she opened her eyes, squinted, and let them focus, she realized she and Hunny were the only ones in the room. "Hunny-senpai, where did everyone go?"

"They're all getting ready to go home! I can't believe Tama-chan forgot about you, but I didn't! So I came to get you so you wouldn't be alone."

So I wouldn't be alone, she thought. I thought I was already alone.

"Thanks, senpai," Haruhi thanked as if it didn't mean as much as it really did to her. She wondered if he even noticed what he did. He saved her from being completely alone in a large building, with nothing but darkness and empty classrooms and unread books. With only large windows showing the dark, breezy outside world.

If that wouldn't make her feel more alone than being home alone, then she didn't know what would.

He tugged on her hand, his other hand occupied with Usa-chan. "Come on, Haru-chan!" He pulled her out of the room, without a response.

After he had dragged her down the long flight of steps, Tamaki pounced on her, pulling her into another air-tight hug.

"Haruhi! My daughter!" he cried, as if she had been missing for the past four months. Tamaki looked at Hunny, who was giggling at the 'father-daughter reunion'. "Thank you, Hunny-senpai, for rescuing her!"

"Of course, Tama-chan!"

...

...

...

Papers scattered and fluttered mid-air as Haruhi's hand came into harsh contact with them.

"I can't believe I'm living like this!" she cried hysterically. Her hands trembled as she knocked things over in frustration. Her jaw was tight, and her teeth ground together. She pulled her hair with her hands and fell to her knees, crying, nearly hyperventilating. She shook her head, closing her eyes frustratingly tight. The tears squeezed out from the corners of her eyes.

She let her hair go with one hand and pounded it against the floor. "Dad, why did you have to leave me here like this!?" she screamed at nothing. Her Dad was to blame for this. He died and left her all alone. Alone with frustrations and mood swings and memories. "Dad, I hate you!!"

"You don't really mean that, do you Haru-chan?"

Haruhi flipped around, startled beyond anything. The door, she remembered, wasn't locked, much less _closed. _Mori was leaning against the door way, his hands in his pockets. Hunny stood on the 'Welcome' mat, hugging Usa-chan close to his chest. Haruhi's chest tightened up, and she stopped yelling.

"H-Hunny-senpai!"

"Haru-chan." Hunny stepped inside, slide his shoes off, and walked towards Haruhi. His eyes showed fear. Haruhi looked away from him, and decided to look at her hands trembling in her lap. He sat on his knees in front of her. "Haru-chan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, senpai," she lied quickly.

"Then why are you crying?"

Haruhi rubbed the heels of her hands against her cheeks. "I...I guess something got into my eyes when I was cleaning up."

Hunny was silent. He looked around Haruhi, at the papers on the floor. "Then, why did you say that you hated your dad?"

Haruhi panicked inside, trying to find a reason. "Um, because he was making me clean everything up! And it got me mad?"

"You're lying." Mori's voice startled her. Hunny stared at her with a hard look.

"Why are you lying?" Hunny asked. The bottom part of his eyes began to brim with tears.

"I-I'm not lying!" Haruhi cried. She stood up and picked up the papers on the floor she had knocked over. "Can you two please leave? I have things to do."

Hunny stared at her for a little longer. He stood and walked over to Haruhi, switching Usa-chan into one hand. With the other arm, he wrapped his arm around Haruhi's, and muttered, "I think, if you told someone what was wrong, you'd feel better. Or, eat cake."

Hunny then let go, slipped his shoes back on, and left with Mori. Before leaving, Mori looked at Haruhi briefly, then closed the door.

Haruhi put the messy stack of papers back on the counter and stared at her feet.

"Maybe...Maybe I should go get some cake."

...

...

...

Kyouya waited in the Third Music Room for Hunny. Earlier in the school day, he had mentioned to Hunny that he had something important to tell him, but couldn't do so at the moment. After a short amount of time thinking about it, he thought that Hunny and Mori (Mori, because he never leaves Hunny's side) were the next most dependable people.

Soon enough, Hunny arrived with a lollipop sticking out of his mouth and Usa-chan held with his other arm. Mori was behind him, one hand in his pocket.

"Kyou-chan!" Hunny greeted. Kyouya smiled a little at him.

"Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai," Kyouya greeted. Mori nodded at Kyouya. Hunny wandered over to the table and slid in the seat, placing Usa-chan in another chair.

"Kyou-chan, what did you have to tell us?" Hunny asked, licking his lollipop and swinging his legs. Mori sat down in a chair next to him. Kyouya took a seat across from the two.

"Well, as I'm sure you two have realized, Haruhi has not been looking too well these past few months." Hunny and Mori nodded. "I know you two went over to her apartment yesterday." At this, Hunny stopped swinging his legs.

"How did you know that, Kyou-chan?" Hunny asked in amazement.

"I passed by there to ask Haruhi a few questions, but I saw you two and decided not to interrupt." Kyouya pushed his glasses up his nose. "Anyway, there is a reason why she has been acting strange and looking deteriorated."

"What's wrong with Haru-chan?" Hunny asked anxiously. Kyouya sighed a little bit.

"About three months ago, her father, Ronka Fujioka, passed away. He was hit by a speeding vehicle and died two days later at the hospital he was sent to."

Hunny's eyes glazed over in thin tears. "Poor Haru-chan!" Mori was silent, although his eyes widened a little bit at the news.

"Haruhi does not want anyone in the Host Club or the school to know about his death, so I ask that you two keep quiet about it, especially around Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru. I trust you two to do so," Kyouya finished.

"But, why does Haru-chan want to keep it secret?" Hunny asked.

"That I'm not sure about. It's possibly because she doesn't want anyone to worry about her. Although, that has gotten out of her hands already."

Hunny pulled Usa-chan into his arms and hugged it tight to him. The bunny smiled, but he didn't.

So that's why she yelled at her dad.

She didn't want him to go.

...

...

...

_Today is a _winding road

_That's taking me to places that I didn't want to go.  
_

_Today in the _blink_ of an eye_

_I'm _holding onto something_ and I do not know why.  
_

_I tried to _read between the lines_,_

_I tried to _look in your eyes_,_

_I want a simple _explanation.

* * *

A/N:

_**Thunder **_**(c) Boys Like Girls**

Sorry this chapter may seem a little off track. I made it a little lengthy to make up for my absence.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^_^


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